Are we going to witness an historical housing price correction amid sharpest rise in unemployment and social tension?...and the minimum you should know in order to protect yourself from this downturn from an economic, stock market and political point of view... with a pinch of humor and sarcasm.

Friday, 8 January 2010

Please Applause... Mr Iceland President Olafur

Iceland President Olafur R. Grimsson struck out at Fitch Ratings after the service cut the nation’s sovereign grade to junk following his decision to block a U.K. and Dutch depositor bill.

“This rating agency that did that, Fitch, has a lot to answer for because its rating in the last two or three years has turned out to be completely wrong,” Grimsson, 66, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television today.

“That is the same agency that gave the Icelandic banks in 2007 and 2008 top marks and we here in Iceland were perhaps foolish enough to think that this was a respectable agency, but it turned out to be completely wrong.”

How true it is. Those agencies that managed to "contaminate" the market and almost sink the economy are still around trying to give lesson as if people have forgottent are miserably they failed the system.

The same can be said to financial institution and a majority of economist... they ought to be humble and report to the public in a transparent and honest way.

Obviously let's not forget the reckless bankers:

Iceland “is not running away” from its obligation to compensate the U.K. and Netherlands for covering depositor claims that stemmed from the failure of Landsbanki Islands hf in October 2008, Grimsson said.

Because at the end it is the people that will pay the price.

Even so, “the people who are going to carry the burden, who are going to pay with their taxes in the future, will have the final say,” Grimsson said.

The same will happen in Finland, tax will rise because rescuing reckless banks and business (stimulus, liabilities, state exponential debts etc...) is and will be costly especially knowing that the people at the head of those institution were ripping millions in profit, bonuses and other largesse... but again this is not new and and it is well known and documented.